AGI will award its inaugural Legendary Geoscientist Award to Wyoming
geologist J. David Love. A Wyoming native who has studied the state’s geology
since 1945, Love will receive the award during an Oct. 24 ceremony at the
Geological Society of America meeting in Denver. “AGI is honoring an extraordinary
individual who is a teacher, mentor, writer, raconteur and possibly one
of the most influential field geologists who ever worked for the USGS,”
says the AGI citation for Love’s award.

Love is the first to receive this award, which AGI will give periodically
to a living geoscientist who has a long history of sustained scientific
achievement and exceptional service to the geoscience profession.

AGI announced the award in early October, prompting a salute from
Gov. Jim Geringer. Gov. Geringer congratulated Love in an Oct. 8 letter,
saying, “Your important contributions in the field of geology have done
much to benefit not only the state of Wyoming, but the nation. ... Your
legacy as a scholar, mentor, writer and storyteller is extraordinary.”

Recognition also came at a national level after Rep. Barbara Cubin
(R-Wyo.) entered Love’s receipt of the award into the Congressional
Record.

John McPhee describes Love’s life in part of his 1986 book Rising
from the Plains.

In 1934, Love met Jane Matteson, who he married in 1940. Jane
Love earned her master's degree in geology from Smith College, has coauthored
several publications with Love and has been a partner in his success.
Both of their sons, Charlie and David, are geologists.

David Love is senior author of two editions of the geologic map of Wyoming
and the geologic map of Grand Teton National Park. He earned his
bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Wyoming and his
doctorate from Yale University. For his work on uranium depostis,
Love recieved an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of
Wyoming. He is an honorary member of the Wyoming Geological Survey
and received an award from the survey for his investigations of the Grand
Teton area. He worked most of his professional life with the U.S. Geological
Survey and started the sruvey's Laramie field office.

The Legendary Geoscientist Award is supported by the AGI Foundation,
with additional support for this year’s award from Jan. F. van Sant, executive
director of the foundation, and his wife, Mary L. van Sant, as well as
from Russell G. Slayback, AGI’s incoming president, and his wife, Judith
A. Slayback.

AGI Sponsors
Earthquake Briefing on Capitol Hill

Just days after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake shook southern
California near the town of Joshua Tree, the geoscience community recognized
the tenth anniversary of the magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake on Oct
17. And on Oct. 22, the American Geological Institute, working with the
U.S. Geological Survey and the Association of American State Geologists,
hosted a special briefing for members of Congress and their staff called,
“Ten Years After the World Series Earthquake: Progress Toward Safer Communities.”

The briefing, held in the U.S. Capitol Building, featured speakers David
P. Schwartz of the survey’s Earthquake Hazards Program, James F. Davis,
director of the California Division of Mines and Geology and Robert Panero
of the insurance department for Pacific Gas & Electric. They described
systems they’ve developed since Loma Prieta for using USGS information
to save lives and property from earthquakes.

The briefing is the first in a series called “Science for Safer and
Healthier Communities,” hosted by Rep. Thomas Davis (R-Va.).

David P. Schwartz of the U.S. Geological Survey
Earthquake Hazards Program discusses the progress in understanding quakes
in the San Francisco Bay area since Loma Prieta and how that information
is helping other communities.ss

Perspective:

Supporting Evolution

On Sept. 8, AGI President David Stephenson wrote to Kansas Gov. Bill
Graves expressing support for the governor and the Kansas Geological Survey
in their strong stance against the science curriculum the Board of Education
adopted Aug. 11, which excludes any mention of biological macroevolution,
the age of Earth or the origin and early development of the universe.
AGI’s letter, which follows below, includes the institute’s 1981 position
statement on evolution. Copies of this letter were also sent to the Kansas
State Board of Education.

AGI Letter to Kansas Gov. Bill Graves:

Sept. 8, 1999

The Honorable Bill Graves
Office of the Governor
State Capitol, Second Floor
Topeka, KS 66612

Dear Governor Graves:

On behalf of the Executive Committee of the American Geological
Institute (AGI), I commend you for your strong support of the teaching
of evolution in your state’s public schools. We also support the active
involvement of the Kansas Geological Survey in this issue. The new state
science standards passed by the Kansas State Board of Education are misguided
and send a signal to local school districts that will have long-term consequences
for the quality of science teaching in Kansas.
AGI is a nonprofit federation of 34 geoscientific and professional
associations that represent more than 100,000 geologists, geophysicists,
and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services
to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in our profession,
plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education and strives to
increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in mankind’s
use of resources and interaction with the environment.
In 1981, amidst an earlier controversy over the teaching of evolution
in public schools, AGI approved the following statement, which is very
relevant to today's situation:

“Scientific evidence indicates beyond any doubt that life has existed
on Earth for billions of years. This life has evolved through time producing
vast numbers of species of plants and animals, most of which are extinct.
Although scientists debate the mechanism that produced this change, the
evidence for the change is undeniable. Therefore, in the teaching of science
we oppose any position that ignores this scientific reality, or that gives
equal time to interpretations based on religious beliefs only.”

Studies show that science and technology have been the driving
forces behind more than half of the economic growth in this country over
the past fifty years. In order to continue that growth, we must provide
the next generation of Americans with the best science education possible.
A strong science curriculum cannot be one that omits the core of our understanding
of the development of life and Earth itself over geologic time.
Evolutionary theory, like plate tectonic theory or the theory
of gravitation, is the product of scientists’ continual commitment to search
for a better understanding of how natural systems operate. Creationists
seek to foster a popular perception that evolutionary theory and religion
are contradictory, a view rejected by the many mainstream Protestant, Catholic,
and Jewish denominations that have publicly stated that evolution is compatible
with their faith.

Sincerely yours,
David Stephenson
President

cc: Kansas State Board of Education

Priscilla Grew
Receives Ian Campbell Medal

The American Geological Institute has honored Priscilla C. Grew, professor
of geosciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with its most prestigious
award, the Ian Campbell Medal. Grew is the 18th recipient and is the first
woman to receive the medal. Previous recipients have included three directors
of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Grew received the award Oct. 25 at the Geological Society of America
Awards Ceremony in Denver. The institute presents the medal "in recognition
of singular performance in and contribution to the profession of geology."
The institute honored Grew "for her leadership in the geosciences promoting
awareness of the contributions of geosciences research to society."

After graduating magna cum laude in geology from Bryn Mawr College in
1962, Grew earned her doctorate in geology at the University of California
at Berkeley (1967) and went on to a wide-ranging career as a geoscientist
both in higher education and with government agencies.

She served on the faculty at Boston College from 1967 to 1972 and at
UCLA from 1972 to 1977, including a year as a visiting assistant professor
at the University of California at Davis (1973-74). From 1977 to 1986,
she worked for the state of California, first as director of the Department
of Conservation, then as commissioner of the California Public Utilities
Commission. During that time, she also served as chair of the California
Mining and Geology Board (1976-77) and the California Geothermal Resources
Board (1977-81).

In 1986 Grew became state geologist of Minnesota, the second woman in
the U.S. to serve as a state geologist. She held concurrent appointments
as director of the Minnesota Geological Survey and professor in the department
of geology and geophysics at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She
came to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993 as vice chancellor for
research and professor in the department of geosciences. She stepped down
from the former position earlier this year. Since 1998, she has also served
as the university's Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
Act compliance coordinator.

Since 1989 Grew has served as a member of the advisory board for the
School of Earth Sciences at Stanford University. She is a fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geological Society
of America, and the Mineralogical Society of America.

Balancing Economics
with the Environment

Eileen McLellan

Eileen McLellan, a geology professor at the University of Maryland,
found her career direction during a research excursion to Canada. Originally
tracing sewage movement along fault lines, McLellan’s group unexpectedly
discovered a gold mine. Returning to the site after mining began, McLellan
felt happy that she helped locate this resource, but she was dismayed that
sediment runoff from the mining production had polluted the crystal-clear
river she once canoed, she says. For her, the experience highlighted the
positive and negative consequences of mining and inspired her to focus
her career on balancing economic growth and environmental quality.

McLellan wants to realize this balance as AGI’s 1999-2000 Congressional
Science Fellow, a fellowship supported by the AGI Foundation. Beginning
this fall, she will serve as a science advisor for one year to a congressional
member’s office. “As scientists, we often give scientific

facts without useful information,” she says. McLellan wants to see
“how science can be used in a fashion that is more useful to decision makers.”

McLellan joins 37 other fellows supported by societies affiliated
with the Congressional Science and Engineering Fellows Program, organized
by the American Academy for the Advancement of Science. AGI member societies
sending fellows include the American Geophysical Union, the Geological
Society of America and the Soil Science Society of America. McLellan attended
a September orientation on the legislative and executive branches, and
is now working on resource and land-use issues in the office of Sen. Ron
Wyden (D-Ore.), a strong supporter of the geosciences.

McLellan earned her Ph.D. in earth sciences at Cambridge University
in 1982. She became a geology professor at the University of Maryland in
1984 and an adjunct faculty member of the Environmental Sciences and Policy
Program at The Johns Hopkins University in 1993. She has created and taught
14 courses in environmental science and policy as a faculty director of
the College Park Scholars in Environmental Studies since 1994. McLellan
says that, while teaching these courses, she became less interested in
being a spectator and more interested in becoming involved in policy-making.

Geologists, McLellan says, are uniquely qualified by the nature of their
training to contribute to balancing economic and environmental concerns.
She believes that a commitment to natural resources exploration for production
is a necessary investment for the future and emphasizes that needs must
be met while minimizing environmental damage and maximizing economic return.
Julia Cole

In Brief

A Tribute to George E. Brown, Jr.

AGI joined 19 other science societies in hosting a Sept. 27 tribute
to the late George E. Brown Jr., who served as a Democratic member of Congress
since 1962 and was a strong advocate for science. Brown died July 16 at
age 86 due to complications he suffered after open-heart surgery. He served
in the House, first representing California's 29th district and then its
42nd.

The Sept. 27 program was held at the American Association for the Advancement
of Science building in Washington and included speeches from leaders in
the science community, such as Neal Lane, director of the Office of Science
and Technology Policy; Rita Colwell, director of the National Science Foundation;
and Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences.
.

Wunsch Receives Kentucky Geologist Award

David R. Wunsch, who recently completed one year working on the Hill
as AGI's 1998-99 Congressional Science Fellow, received the 1999 Outstanding
Kentucky Geologist Award earlier this year from the Kentucky Chapter of
the American Institute of Professional Geologists. The chapter gives the
award every year to a professional geologist in Kentucky who has made significant
contributions to advancing geological sciences and to practicing geology
at the state and local levels.

Wunsch is coordinator of the Coal-Field Hydrology Program for the Kentucky
Geological Survey. As AGI’s Congressional Science Fellow, Wunsch worked
as a science advisor for the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
.

Awarding Minority Scholars

AGI’s education department recently selected its 1999-2000 minority
scholars. AGI’s 28-year-old Minority Participation Program awards scholarships
every year to minority undergraduates in the geosciences, or to upcoming
college freshman interested in geosciences or earth science teaching. This
year’s awards are funded with a grant from the National Science Foundation.
With the help of corporate sponsors and individual donors, AGI also gives
scholarships to minority graduate students. Each scholarship recipient
is assigned a professional geoscientist as a mentor for the school year.

Past Intern Joins AGI Staff

The AGI Government Affairs Program welcomed one of its former interns
as a new member of its staff in September. Margaret Baker participated
in the 1998 AGI/American Institute of Professional Geologists Public Policy
Summer Internships program, working as a staff member of AGI’s Government
Affairs Program. After she graduated with a dual bachelor’s degree in geology
and Asian studies this year from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley,
Mass., she joined AGI as a program associate for government affairs. Working
with Government Affairs Program Director David Applegate, Baker will maintain
the Government Affairs Program Web site, report on congressional hearings,
assist member societies with information on policy and coordinate internship
and fellowship programs.

New Staff at Geotimes

Earlier this year, Kristina Bartlett, formerly an assistant editor for
AGI’s Geotimes, became managing editor of the monthly geoscience newsmagazine.
Bartlett earned her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of
Virginia in 1995 and worked as a newspaper reporter before joining the
Geotimes staff in 1997, helping produce the magazine and writing for the
“News Notes” section. New to Geotimes is Associate Editor Christina Reed,
who earned her dual master’s degree in earth and environmental science
journalism from Columbia University this year. Reed will help edit and
produce the magazine and will also write for the "News Notes" section.

GAP Welcomes Fall Intern

Working with the Government Affairs Program (GAP) this fall is Alison
Alcott, who is earning her master’s degree in geology from the University
of Utah. Alcott is participating in the 1999 AGI/American Association of
Petroleum Geologists Fall Semester Internship in Geoscience and Public
Policy.

1999 AGI Executive Committee

President

David A. Stephenson

President-Elect

Russell G. Slayback

Secretary

Joanne V. Lerud

Treasurer

William A. Thomas

Member-at-Large

Suzanne B. O'Connell

Member-at-Large

Steven M. Stanley

Member-at-Large

Lawrence P. Wilding

Past President

Susan M. Landon.

Chairman, Foundation
Board of Trustees

Bruce Appelbaum

Executive Director

Marcus E. Milling

Please send any comments or questions about Geospectrum
to Kristina Bartlett, editor and webmaster, at geospectrum@agiweb.org.